Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner - OPTIONAL

Messner, Kate Wake Up Missing, 272 p. Walker, 2013.  $15.  Violence:  PG (murder); Language: PG (4 swers, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G.  

Cat, 12, has suffered a severe brain injury.  She convinces her parents to send her to a clinic in Florida, well known for its progressive treatment methods and good recovery record.  When she arrives at the clinic, however, things a re a little different than the brochures and websites.  There are only a few children around, the scientists are acting a bit strange and one of the other patients is sure that something is fishy – a few other patients have disappeared and another patient is acting like a completely different person.  Part of the treatment involves gene therapy – what if, instead of using your own DNA in the process, the scientists replaced it with the DNA of someone else?  Who would you really be?  

While the idea is kind of interesting, Messner doesn’t use enough pages to fully realize the story, neither the basic plot nor that action to compel the reader.  This book needed at least 100 or 150 more pages to really make it worth reading.  While it might work for a reluctant reader, it will not hold very many others.  

MS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library teacher